US-27 Rain after Class at Presidio 19990806

The drizzle is misty, the clouds stretch long,

The water in the bay reflects the dim sky.

It is the early autumn weather, comfortable and refreshing,

I hope the withered grass will turn green, 

So as to see the beautiful scenery of Yanshan Mountain

Are the leaves of the Western Hills red now

I once climbed to the Ghost-frustrating Peak

Carving our names on a rock was more than twenty years ago.

An the old classmate now lives in the capital as an official,

There has been no news for many years.

I laugh at myself, past the year of 40,

Still a wanderer overseas.

Life is short, where is the day

To spend with a wife and innocent child.

Forget about it.

Going back and looking at my room.

I see messy bedding and scattered books

US-28 Swimming in Monterey Bay

In a rare hot summer of Monterey

The first time since I came here

I waded into the sea of the bay

The cold pierced me like a spear

The wharf dike softened the waves

When there was no wind blowing

The lazy ocean rolled in slowly

Wetting my shoes while I gazed standing

The water was cool as a November pool

Where I once swam late in the year

Of course I was not like a Moscow fool

Who swims in the dead of the winter there

It was the nice feeling of crystal cold

That made my body and spirit clean

Once again I tasted the salt of days old

And remembered the seas I was in

Swimming solitarily in the bay

I watched human flesh baking in the sun

Covered with sand, or exposed to solar ray

And children having lots of fun

Afterwards I went to the Wharf

Among tall people I was like a dwarf

People were enjoying a sunny weekend

A chill ran from my top to my end

The Turks were dancing like in the year before

But the face of a long-legged Turkish girl

Was, despite my search, not seen any more

Who could dance angelically, what a pearl

Tides come and go, nothing unusual

But human changes are once for all

People you like, known or not

Once gone, there’s not another shot

I like the ocean for its eternity

It’s insensitive to all the the woes

And joys of humanity

Whatever is there, it just sinks or floats

I wish to come back to swim again

Oblivious of all the worldly change

Buried in ocean,  cool and sane

As happy as a fish in free range